Mirror Symmetry and Algebraic Geometry

Front Cover
American Mathematical Soc., 1999 - Mathematics - 469 pages
Mirror symmetry began when theoretical physicists made some astonishing predictions about rational curves on quintic hypersurfaces in four-dimensional projective space. Understanding the mathematics behind these predictions has been a substantial challenge. This book is the first completely comprehensive monograph on mirror symmetry, covering the original observations by the physicists through the most recent progress made to date. Subjects discussed include toric varieties, Hodge theory, Kahler geometry, moduli of stable maps, Calabi-Yau manifolds, quantum cohomology, Gromov-Witten invariants, and the mirror theorem. This title features: numerous examples worked out in detail; an appendix on mathematical physics; an exposition of the algebraic theory of Gromov-Witten invariants and quantum cohomology; and, a proof of the mirror theorem for the quintic threefold.
 

Contents

The Quintic Threefold
15
Toric Geometry
31
Mirror Symmetry Constructions
53
Hodge Theory and Yukawa Couplings
73
Moduli Spaces
113
GromovWitten Invariants
167
Quantum Cohomology
217
Localization
275
Conclusion
397
Appendix A Singular Varieties
407
Nonlinear Sigma Models
419
Conformal Field Theories
423
LandauGinzburg Models
426
Gauged Linear Sigma Models
428
Topological Quantum Field Theories
430
Bibliography
437

Quantum Differential Equations
301
The Mirror Theorem
331

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About the author (1999)

David A. Cox, Amherst College, MA

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